


vs. Umbrella

by minigyu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crack, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Sendai Frogs, Tsundere Tsukki, and also how to tag oops, author is non-shipper, i somehow forgot how to summary, i watch too much team japan vball i'm so sorry, supposed to be fluff, this is what i get for using haikyuu memes as my muse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minigyu/pseuds/minigyu
Summary: Kuroo has a job but decides to do Akane-chan's instead. He puts out a killer interview after braving the gentle spring rain to profile a mystery player for an extended installation of the Monster Generation interview series: "He Who Stuffed Ushijima!"Tsukki is not impressed.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	vs. Umbrella

**Author's Note:**

> for nat 💜  
> (a bon voyage/lunar new year gift)

Tsukishima Kei has little tolerance for things he does not understand. There are few things that escape his comprehension, and one of those things is now sitting opposite him, for reasons entirely beyond Kei.

One Kuroo Tetsurou is in Sendai for work. Apparently. It's a complete mystery to everyone as to what he gets paid to do by the Japan Volleyball Association Sports Promotion Division. 

Somehow, through some inexplicable feat of mental gymnastics, it now involves Tsukishima Kei. 

Kei has been held against his will in this admittedly charming, but small, café for far too long, responding only occasionally to Kuroo’s banal chitchat with slight nods and short responses so as not to seem rude. With anyone else, Kei's brand of socializing often seems to do the trick, though with Kuroo it tends to be Kei who loses patience first. 

Regardless, he has absolutely no idea what Kuroo is doing in Miyagi Prefecture in the first place, let alone what he has to do with it, and thus cannot be held accountable for any inconveniences caused. 

"Made the switch to sports journalism? Aren't you putting Enaga-san out of a job now, Kuroo-san?" Kei politely accuses, spearing a bite of strawberry shortcake. 

"Ah, you're right. Enaga-san just assigned Akane-chan to cover the entire Monster Generation. I'm just helping out as a good senpai." 

Kei holds back a derisive snort. There was no way Kuroo helping out meant any less work for her. 

"So, Tsukishima-senshu," Kuroo purrs, sprawling across most of the tiny table between them, "tell me about yourself. Come here often?”

Kei meets his scheming grin with a blank stare. 

“Oh c’mon, Tsukki, you know I’m just kidding. Kids like you should lighten up every now and then.”

“Kuroo-san, you do know we’re only two years apart, right?”

Kuroo sighs like those two years place the weight of the world on his shoulders. “One day you’ll know what it’s like to be an adult, Tsukishima-kun.” 

On any of his other juniors, Kuroo’s melodrama might have had some small effect. Unfortunately for Kuroo, Kei had been hearing this line since his first year of high school. “If you were looking to interview some actual V.League child prodigies, might I recommend the Adlers’ Inubousaki-kun, or better yet Nishida-kun with the Stings?”

“My, my, Tsukki,” Kuroo smirks, “you’re a lot more into this next generation than I thought you’d be. What a delightful change from the uninspired but clever middle blocker of Karasuno.” 

“I’ve expressed no such interest nor made such changes, Kuroo-san.” 

Kuroo hums his dissent, a lull in their conversation as he cooks up a witty response. “Would you be interested if I joined you at practice today?” 

Kei starts at the sudden change of topic, albeit not visibly. “You know just as well as anyone that V.League team practices are closed to the public. You also know that you can do whatever nonsense you’d like because you work for JVA.” 

“Tsukki! What a genius you are! Thanks for reminding me.” Kuroo’s eyebrows wiggle disturbingly. 

Kei places his fork and empty plate neatly on his tray to return to the counter. “Careful, you’re starting to take after Bokuto-san. Maybe your IQs are finally averaging out after so many years.” 

Kuroo splutters, lost for words as Kei smugly collects his things. 

The bells on the door jingle cheerfully as he exits the establishment, Kuroo on his heels. Kei pretends not to notice while slipping on his headphones. 

Kuroo catches up momentarily, wrestling with an umbrella to ward off the light spring drizzle. “You wound me, Kei,” He says dramatically while trying to match his lengthy gait, swinging an arm over Kei’s shoulder with only some difficulty. 

“I only do it because Kozume-san pays me to put you in your place.” Kei quips, deadpan. 

“Kinky.” 

Kei looks down to find a predictably shit-eating expression plastered on his senior’s face. 

He opts to ignore Kuroo as they wait for the bus. He does let Kuroo hold his umbrella for both of them, though.

They board without fanfare, both men ducking to avoid the doorframe and scanning their cards before making their way to stand towards the back of the bus. 

Kei wordlessly helps Kuroo wrangle the umbrella into a pouch so as not to drip water all over the floor. Kuroo smirks all the while, especially when their hands brush, much to Kei’s chagrin.

When Kuroo successfully sneaks his free hand into Kei’s a few moments later, Kei has no doubt Kuroo’s expression has grown to Cheshire Cat-like proportions. How fitting. 

(Kei misses the aggressively tender looks Kuroo sneaks in periodically.)

On the short walk from their stop to the gymnasium, Kuroo turns, hand-in-hand still, to wreak more havoc on Kei. “Ya know, for all the snarking and curmudgeonly airs you put on, you’re a surprisingly polite boy.”

“You sound like my mother.”

“Even your doting mother calls you ‘curmudgeonly’? No wonder Akiteru’s more fun to talk to.”

“You talk to my brother?” Kei swears he’s losing brain cells with every second that passes, and Kuroo’s supposed to be smart. 

“Of course. Never hurts to have another friend. Especially when you can call in favors to follow up on his little bro.” 

“‘Little,’ huh?” Kei ignores everything else that was just said and smirks down at Kuroo beneath their umbrella. 

Kuroo continues, unphased, scrolling through his conversation with the elder Tsukishima son until he gets to a picture of a much-younger Kei laughing after his very first volleyball game. “Like I said, little.” 

The tips of Kei’s ears go pink. 

Luckily for him, no one is there to witness Kei in his state of great vulnerability. 

Unfortunately for him, Kuroo chooses this moment to tip the umbrella down and plant a parting kiss squarely on the mouth, lips brushing lips with an impish nibble. 

“Well, we’re here! Have a good practice, Tsukki.”

Kei storms into the locker room, red as a tomato and fuming. His teammates (except Koganegawa) give him a two meter radius until he resembles more of a beta carotene-deficient flamingo.

Practice is good though. Roofing his teammates is an effective and socially appropriate way of venting his waning patience with Kuroo. 

Kei can’t really afford to make a scene, though. As a member of the JVA, Kuroo is well-behaved and makes himself uncharacteristically scarce, observing from the sidelines and only occasionally pestering Coach and a handful of other team members. 

Not that Kei is paying any attention. It would be suicide to stand distracted on the same court as Kyoutani. 

Kei bolts as soon as he’s finished his share of cleanup and hustles to get out of the locker room, too, with speed his teammates could only describe as “never before seen,” even in games.

Kuroo waits for him at the entrance, umbrella at the ready. Kei would love nothing more than to ignore him completely, but having forgotten his own umbrella, he begrudgingly lets Kuroo sweat over their height difference as they leave the gym. 

They make it only a few blocks before the serenity of the evening rain is pierced with an "Oya, oya, oya, if it isn't another Tsukishima."

"Kuroo! Fancy meeting you out here in the boonies." Akiteru greets him with a grin. "I'm just here to pick up my baby brother from his VLeague practice. Sorry I’m late, Kei!”

Kei pinches the bridge of his nose. “How did you get a hold of my training schedule again? And why are you also in town?” 

“Kuroo-kun told me you two had made plans today!”

Kuroo has the audacity to grin. 

The trio make the short journey to the Tsukishima residence, where Tsukishima-san definitely does not describe her son as curmudgeonly, even under explicit questioning. 

///

A few weeks later, Kei checks his phone in the Frogs locker room, only to find a truly unfathomable number of LINE messages from his mother, Tadashi, Akiteru, and Bokuto-san, with attached pictures of his interview in Monthly Volleyball. 

Wait, his interview in Monthly Volleyball? 

Kei scrolls up to find even more: there’s Yachi cheering, a calmer message from Akaashi-san, emoticons from Sugawara, a fatherly congratulations from Sawamura, a sequence of gibberish that eventually resembled “Nice” from Kageyama, and a typo-ridden mess in all caps from Hinata. 

Kei stares in disbelief.

"Huh???" 

"Oh, Tsukki! What's up?" Koganegawa enthusiastically pops up from around his locker at Kei's version of an uncharacteristic outburst.

Kei clicks his tongue. "It's nothing. See you all." He exasperatedly jabs a text into his phone before slamming his locker shut. 

To: Kuroo-san  
>>> Die.

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me I have absolutely no fucking clue how sports promotion and also professional sports work. Also this was supposed to be cute ND FLUFFY but it turned into crack because reasons (aka i am incapable of writing good fluff) and I’m so sorry. Also once again i am borrowing shamelessly from reality to make another nishida reference because literally, how could i not? And because he’s one of the few examples i know of a player skipping college volleyball to go straight into the v.league. Oops. Also this is bad journalism practice Do Not Do This please
> 
> Also also i apologize for naming inconsistency i am Wholly aware his given name is tetsurou but kuroo in my brain is always and only kuroo oops.
> 
> And finally i just want to say that although i do not personally ship kurotsukki i love nat to pieces and would do anything for them and also i just realized that i am in fact a Fucking Moron bc i’m 99% sure nat is not caught up w the manga so… SPOILERS :)


End file.
